Apparatus for forming articles from strip metal



Dec, 8-1970 r .pwHlTEsmE l 3,545,248

` APPARATUS FR- FORMING ARTICLES FROM STRIP METAL Filed June19. 19e? v s sheets-sheet z Dec. 8, 1.970 J. wHrrESlDE APPARATUS YFOR FoRMTNlG ARTICLES FROM STRIP METAL Filed June 19, ma?

QS A vm U@ A UQ A A@ umm@ mmm@ vm A.. .QN Am United States Patent M 3,545,248 p APPARATUS FOR FORMING ARTICLES FROM STRIP METAL .Tohu Whiteside, Naphill, England, assignor to Vandervell Products Limited, London, England, a British company Filed June 19, 1967, Ser. No. 647,122

Claims priority, application Great Britain, June 21, 1966,

Int. Cl. B21d 43/28, 53/10; B21k 27/06' U.S. Cl. 72-324 5 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A plant for making thin wall llexible bearing liners from strip material comprising three separate pieces of apparatus the rst of which forms separated arcuate portions from the strip, the second of which pierces oil holes in the separate arcuate portions and the third forms locating notches on the arcuate portions.

This invention relates to a plant for the manufacture of thin wall flexible bearing liners from strip material which is subjected at a number of positions along its length to a succession of different operations including bending of the strip into arcuate form and severing it into arcuate portions and then subjecting the severed arcuate portions to other different operations.

The plant comprises a number of separate pieces of apparatus any one of which may comprise a press in which is removably located a unitary capsule having relatively movable guided parts provided with appropriate tools for carrying out the operation or operations required of that part of the plant. In the case Where a number of operations including the severing of the strip are carried out by the tools in one piece of apparatus during step by step movement of the strip past the tools, the last of the operations to be carried out is the severing of the strip into arcuate portions whereaiter these portions are passed onto the other piece of the apparatus in the plant where further operations are carried out upon them.

Thus in brief according to this invention a plant for manufacturing arcuate bearing liners from strip comprises a number of separate pieces of apparatus for carrying out successive operations on the strip one of which pieces of apparatus carries out a number of operations including a last operation of severing the strip into separate arcuate portions and at least one of `which pieces of apparatus comprises a press having relatively movable platens between which is removably located a self contained capsule having two parts constrained to move towards and away from one another by guide means and respectively provided with tool parts.

In such an arrangement the iirst of said pieces of apparatus comprises said press in which is removably located said capsule.

In one form of the invention each of the pieces of apparatus comprises a press in which is located a self contained capsule.

Means may be provided for feeding step by step between the two parts of the capsule in the tirst piece of apparatus a strip of material from which the arcuate liners are to be formed and which capsule contains tools spaced 3,545,248 Patented Dec. 8, 1970 apart in the direction of travel of the strip and adapted partly to sever the strip inwardly from opposite edges, partly to bend the strip, to complete the bending of the strip into arcuate formation and iinally completely to sever arcuate portions from the strip.

The capsule in the rst press may also contain tools for applying identifying marks to the strip and for indenting the strip from opposite sides thereof so as to form chamfers.

The plant may be provided with another piece of apparatus comprising a press in which is removably located a self contained capsule containing toolsfor piercing oil holes with or without recesses around them in the successive severed arcuate portions fed through it.

Yet a further press may be provided in which is removably located a self contained capsule having tools adapted to form a locating projection on arcuate portions of the strip successively fed through it.

In a further embodiment of the invention the first of said pieces of apparatus may comprise a press in which is removably located a capsule having a number of tools the last of which elfects the severing of the strip and at least one of the other pieces of apparatus comprises a machine tool.

The following is a more detailed description of a number of alternative plants for carrying out the invention reference being made to the :accompanying drawings in which:`

FIGS. 1A, 1B, 1C are side elevations partly in section of three pieces of apparatus making up one form of plant according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of that part of a unitary capsule used in the pieces of apparatus shown in FIG. 1A which reduces the Width of the strip, partially severing it and partially bending it;

FIG. 3 is a vertical section on the line 3-3 of FIG. 1A;

FIG. 4 is an end view of the piece of apparatus of FIG. 1A looking in the direction of the arrow showing the severing tool but omitting the other tools;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a continuous strip as it s being passed through the piece of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1A and also showing the severed portion of the strip formed by the last tool of that apparatus;

FIG. 6 is an end elevation of the piece of apparatus shown in FIG. 1B but on a smaller scale;

FIG. 7 is an end elevation of the piece of apparatus shown in FIG. lC and looking from the right thereon.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view 'of a half bearing liner produced by the plant; and

FIGS. 9A, 9B, 9C are schematic side elevations of three pieces of apparatus making up an alternative formof plant.

The invention is particularly applicable to the manufacture of interchangeable thin wall bearing liners from metal strips having a steel backing supporting bearing metal, for example comprising an intermediate layer of lead-bronze, aluminum-tin or other alloy and a final thin bearing layer of a tinbased or lead based alloy one such strip being described in Pat. No. 989,946 although a bimetallic strip may be employed. The bearing layer may be nonmetallic for example P.T.F.E. and lead or even a single layer or strip of suitable bearing material may be used.

The plant shown in FIGS. 1A, 1B and 1C comprises three presses provided respectively with upper and lower platens a, 11a; 10b, 11b; and 10c, 11C.

Three unitary capsules about to be described are disposed respectively between the platens of the three presses and which contain tools for carrying out operations upon a strip 12 and portions severed from the strip by the capsule in the press of FIG. 1A.

The strip with the steel backing uppermost is fed step by step through the capsule in the press shown in FIG. 1A by, for example, driven nip rollers 8 mounted on a support 7 and having drive means indicated at 5. After leaving the nip rollers the strip passes through guide means 6 which locate the strip correctly with respect to tools in the capsules.

The capsule comprises two upper parts 13, 13' and a lower part 14 which are constrained to move towards and away from one another by guide rods 61 which are fixed to the lower part 14 and extend into guide holes in the upper parts 13, 13 and are encircled by springs 61a which at opposite ends abut the part 14 and the parts 13, 13.

The first operation to be carried out in this capsule is the indentation of the upper surface of the strip as indicated at 9 in FIG. 5 by a tool 16 secured in a holder 17 attached to the upper part 13 of the capsule, during which operation the strip is supported by an upwardly directed face of a holder 18 secured by means (not shown) on the lower part 14 of the capsule. After one or more steps of the step by step movement of the strip it is brought above an indenting tool 1'9 in the holder 18, and by the downward movement imparted to the capsule part 13, the second operation of indenting the bearing metal on the underside of the strip is carried out. During this second operation the strip is located by the downwardly directed face of the holder 17.

The next step of the step by step movement brings the strip beneath a stamping tool 20 secured to the holder 17 attached to the upper part 13 of the capsule, and by the downward movement of the capsule part 13 the third operation of stamping a trade mark and/ or part number as indicated at 21 in FIG. 5 is carried out. During this operation the strip is supported by an upwardly directed face of the holder 18.

There may then follow one or more steps of the step by step movement in which no operation takes place.

The next step of movement of the strip brings the aforementioned part of the strip between a pair of cutters 22 spaced at such a distance apart across the strip as to reduce its width to that corresponding to the circumferential length of the liner. The cutters (only one of which is shown in FIG. 1A) are secured to the part 17. Each of the cutters 22 is formed as viewed in plan with two cutting edges at right angles and these cutting edges cooperate with the right angled cutting edges 23, 24 formed respectively on the parts 2S and 25a of shearing member 25a when the part 10a of the press is caused to move downwardly and effect the fourth operation which results in marginal portions of a part of the strip being cut away to form shoulders 26 (FIG. 5). During the next step of movement of the strip, the shoulders 26 come into engagement with stops 27 (FIG. 2) fixed to the shearing member 25a. Whilst the shoulder is in engagement with the stop and the strip is stationary the platen 10a and the part 13 again move downwardly to cut away marginal portions of the preceding part of the strip thus reducing it in width and enabling the next step by step movement of the strip to be effected. This will bring the part of the strip which has been reduced in width between the female portion of a die 28 secured to the capsule part 13 and the male portion 29,0f a die secured to the capsule part 14.

The centre portion 28a of the female die is formed part cylindrical and the outer portions of the die extend in an inclined manner from the cylindrical portion. Similarly, the centre portion of the male die part 29 is part cylindrical as indicated at 30 in FIG. 2 and the portions extending laterally from the centre portion are inclined in a similar manner to that of the female die from the centre portion as indicated at 31.

The leading edges of the inclined outer portions of the female die are shearing edges and these are arranged to cooperate with the shearing faces 32 formed on the right hand end of the shearing member 25a. Thus during downward movement of the capsule part 13 fifth and sixth operations are carried out, the fifth due to the shearing edges of the female member forming cross cuts on each side of the strip extending only across a part of the width of the strip whilst further downward movement of the capsule part 13 carries out the sixth operation in which the centre portion of the part of the strip is cylindrically bent and the other portions, which are separated by the cross cuts from the preceding part of the strip, will be brought into positions extending downwardly and outwardly from the centre portion by the inclined portions of the dies.

The next step of the step by step movement will bring the last part of the strip formed by the sixth operation between the left-hand portion 33 of a semicylindrical female die 34 as seen in FIG. 1A which is secured to the plate 13 and the left-hand male part of a die 35. The female portion of the die 34 has an axial length equivalent to the three step by step movements of the strip. The male die part 35 is semicylindrical in shape and is supported by a pin 36 which extends through the smaller part of a stepped bore in an upper part 37 of the lower capsule part 14. The pin 36 has a flange 38 which is reciprocable in the larger part of the stepped bore and rests on the top of a number of spring discs 39 in the capsule part 14. When the capsule part 13 moves downwardly to effect a seventh operation the part of the strip under consideration is bent, by the outer ends of the male and female die parts 35 and 34, into semicylindrical form. The upper part 37 of the lower capsule part 14 is cut away at 37a so as to permit the ends of the arcuate liner to move downwardly from the upper face of the part 37 during which movement of the male part is descending and compressing the spring discs 39, and this operation is hereinafter referred to as first forming stage. As shown in FIG. 3 the upwardly directed face of the capsule part 37, along which the strip moves during the next two step by step movements, is formed with grooves on opposite sides of the male die part 35 each of which grooves has vertical and inclined faces 40 and 41 joined by a curved portion 42. Thus in the first forming stage when the die part 34 ascends under the action of the press it will be followed by the male die part 3S under the action of the disc springs 39 and eventually the lower edges of the arcuate, now partly formed, liner will be brought above the level of the upper face of the part 37 and thus during the next step of the step by step movement these lower edges will be brought above the grooved portions of the part 37.

When the female die 34 is next moved downwardly by the capsule part 13 under the action of the press to effect the eighth operation in which the parting faces of the now formed liner are brought into engagement with the faces 40, 41 and 42, it thus forms the bearing liner to the correct circumferential length between end parting faces and at the same time the curved faces 42 form curved corners at the inside of the parting faces. This eighth operation is referred to as the second forming stage and during this forming stage a preceding part of the strip is being subjected to coin pressing between the righthand portions of the male and female die parts 34, 35 in a third forming stage thus controlling axial spread of the bearing liner in the direction of movement of the strip during the second forming stage.

The inclined faces 41 of the groove (FIG. 3) in the capsule part 37 applies appropriate corrective angles to the parting faces of a liner so that when it is sprung into a bearing housing the parting faces are diametrically at.

The strip then passes between guillotine parts 64, 65 (FIGS. 1A and 4) having cutting edges 64a, 65a. The guillotine part 64 is iixed to the capsule part 13' and the guillotine part 65 is fixed to the part 37. The strip is guided into guillotine by a guide 66 and this action is assisted by a bevelled edge 67 formed on the part 65.

The previous operations on the strip tend to spread it longitudinally and it is thus desirable not to effect severing of the strip whilst the other operations are taking place. Thus instead of the platen a engaging the capsule part 13 directly it has secured to it two downwardly extending threaded rods 68 each of which t passes between limbs of a forked extremity of a rocker 69l pivoted at 70, to the upper end of one of the guide rods 61. The lower end of each threaded rod is engaged by nuts 72 which bear on rounded parts 73 of the fork arms. The other end of each rocker has mounted on it a roller 71 which engages the upper face of the capsule part 13', which slides on the guide rods 61. Thus the severing of the arcuate strip is effected whilst the platen 10a is rising whereas the other operations take place whilst it is descending.

It will be appreciated with this arrangement that the various tools and the capsule parts constitute a self contained unit which may be withdrawn bodily from between the platens when the threaded rods 68 are disengaged from the fork arms. The partly formed arcuate severed portions leaving the guillotine may then travel along the chute (not shown) to the next piece of apparatus in FIG. 1B and FIG. 6 where they are formed with oil holes having depressions around them.

As indicated above the piece of apparatus also comprises a press having relatively moving platens 10b and 11b between which is located a capsule having relatively moving capsule parts 13b, 14b with which are associated guide rods 61 and spring 61a.

The capsule also comprises a base portion 46 secured to the capsule part 14b from which base portion extend upwardly two arched portions 47 spaced axially apart. Mounted between the two arched portions 47 are one or more angularly disposed blocks 48 (FIG. 6) according to the number of oil holes to be punched. Plungers 49 extend through holes in the blocks the axes of which plungers are disposed radially with respect to the curved portion 50 of the bearing liner. The plungers are provided with perforating punches which cooperate with die inserts 51a on a part 51 also mounted on the base 46. The inserts are shaped so as to form a depression around the inner side of each oil hole, or, if a punch is not provided, the shaped die alone may form a depression which holds a supply of lubricant. The upper ends of the plungers are rounded and engage part cylindrical concave surfaces 52 on thrust blocks 53 which are adjustably slidable towards and away from one another in a groove 54 in the underface of the capsule part 13b. Thus as the platen 10b descends it forces the capsule part 13b together with the thrust blocks 53 which in their turn cause the plunger 49 to move radially and pierce the oil holes in the arcuate liner 50.

The perforated liners are then passed onto a capsule between the platens 10c and 11e of the press shown in FIGS. 1C and 7 which forms a locating projection 62 shown in FIG. 8. This capsule has capsule parts 13cand 14e and associated guide rods 61 and springs 61a.

The capsule part 13C has secured to it a die part 63 which is provided with a shoulder 69 around its bore to form a location for the loose liner. It will be appreciated that it is most important that the locating projection 62 should be accurately positioned on the bearing liner since this determines the correct axial positioning of the liner in the bearing housing.

For this purpose the die part 63 is provided with the shoulder 69 (FIG. 1C) which may be used for location purposes. j

A support 76 for the severed arcuate portion 50 is mounted on a plate 77 which in. its turn is mounted on springs 78 on the capsule part 14e. Also mounted on the capsule part 14e` is a shearing and bending member 79 which engages an edge of the arcuate portion 50 and as the die part 63 continues to descend, forces the edge outwardly against a shearing edge or edges at a point 80 on the die 63 so as to shear through the edge of the bearing liner and force a tongue 62 outwardly to form a projection which subsequently locates the bearing part in a bearing housing. This tongue or locating projection may be formed at an axial end of the parting faces of a bearing or at any position intermediate between the two ends.

The aforesaid capsules are so formed that stationary and movable guide partsare capable of having attached thereto diiferent tools so as to enable different sized bearing parts to be formed by the same capsule.

A half bearing liner formed by the above plant is shown in FIG. 8. In this case the liner has ybeen formed from a trimetallic strip having a steel backing 83 to which is bonded an intermediate layer of bearing metal 90 and a final thin bearing layer of a lead indium alloy 84. The liner has a pressed outer cylindrical surface 83 and a machined internal part cylindrical surface 84 in which there is formed a depression 85 having a pressed surface and at the bottom of which there is an oil hole 86. The inner edge ot each parting surface 82 has a rounded pressed surface 87 and the annular surfaces at the sides of the liner have pressed chamfered faces 88, 89. A locating projection is indicated at 62 and is formed by the capsule shown in FIG. 7.

The plant illustrated in FIGS 9A, 9B and 9C is somewhat similar but differs in the following respects.

The only capsule provided is one which forms the projection 62 and the piece of apparatus shown in FIG. 9C is identical to that of FIGS. lC and 7.

The piece of apparatus shown in FIG. 9A diters from that of FIG. 1A mainly in that a press is provided in which the various tools are mounted directly in holders xed to the platens 10a and 11a of the press instead of being mounted in a removable capsule although the arrangement of the guillotine is similar to that shown in FIG. 1A and FIG. 4.

The piece of apparatus shown in FIG. 9B is a machine tool in the form of a drill having two spindles and chucks which may accommodate drills for drilling the oil holes 1enl countersinks for forming the depressions around the o es.

It will rbe appreciated that where additional operations are required to be carried out the plant may include additional pieces of apparatus for example in the case where the internal surface of the liner is required to have one or more circumferential oil grooves these may be machined by a suitable machine tool.

I claim:

1. A plant for manufacturing arcuate bearing liners comprising a press having platens relatively movable toward and away from each other along a first predetermined path, a capsule disposed between said platens and including first and second parts guidingly connected for relative movement toward and away from each other along a second predetermined path generally paralleling the rst path, means for moving a strip of material step by step between said parts, rst tool means in the capsule for rendering the strip arcuate across its width whilst the strip is stationary and during movement of one of the platens in one direction, second tool means in the capsule for severing an arcuate portion from the strip whilst the strip is stationary and during movement of said one platen in the other direction, a piece of apparatus having means for piercing at least one oil hole in a severed arcuate portion of strip, and a piece of apparatus having means for forming a locating projection on a severed arcuate portion of strip.

2. A plant according to claim 1 wherein the capsule contains tools spaced apart in the direction of travel of 7 the strip and adapted partly to sever the strip inwardly from opposite edges, partly to bend the strip, to complete the bending of the strip into arcuate formation and finally completely to sever arcuate portions from the strip.

3. A plant according to claim 2 wherein said capsule alsocontains tools for applying identifying marks to the strip and for indenting the strip from opposite sides thereof so as to form chamfers.

4. A plant according to claim 1 wherein the piece of the apparatus for forming an oil hole in an arcuate portion of the strip comprises a press in which is removably located :a self-contained 4capsule lcontaining a tool for piercing an oil hole in the successive severed arcuate portions fed through it.

5. A plant according to claim 1 wherein the piece of the apparatus for forming a locating projection on an arcuate portion of the strip comprises a press in which is removably located -a self-contained capsule having tools 8 adapted to form a locating projection on arcuate portions successively fed through it.

References Cited CHARLES w. LANHAM, Primary Examiner E. M. COMBS, Assistant Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 29-149.5 

